Sun Files Countersuit in NetApp File System IP Dispute
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NetApp seeks to remove ZFS from the marketplace because it threatens its business model, Sun claims in the suit.
Fifty days after Network Appliance filed a
Click here to read about Suns decision to combine its server and storage groups in one division.
This is not a case of stolen or copied code-from either inside or outside sources, NetApp CEO Dan Warmenhoven told a conference call of journalists and analysts last month from the company headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.
"Were not saying they stole code from us," Warmenhoven said in answer to a question from eWEEK. "Were saying that there are clear patterns of techniques that we use in our file system that are in ZFS, and that we want Sun to stop using it commercially."
Statements from key players on both sides of the legal disagreement are being posted in personal blogs.
Sun President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz addressed the issue in his blog on Oct. 24, writing that "one of the ways we innovated was to create the magical file system called ZFS-which enables expensive, proprietary storage to be replaced with commodity disks and general purpose servers. Customers save a ton of money-and administrators save a ton of time. The economic impact is staggering-and understandably threatening to Ne App and other proprietary companies," Schwartz wrote.
"So last week, I reached out to their CEO [Warmenhoven] to see how we could avoid litigation. I have no interest whatever in suing them. None whatever," Schwartz wrote.
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Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz
